But because different species have different needs and live in different environments, it turns out their milks are very different as well. But whatвЂ™s actually in human milk, from a nutritional perspective? How similar is human milk to milk produced by domestic cows? And what other animals might have milk closer in make-up to our own? Fortunately, the scientific literature is awash in milk research.ДЄll mammals are capable of producing milk, from the egg-laying monotremes like platypuses, to pouch-sporting marsupials like kangaroos and wallabies, and the more reproductively familiar rabbits, tigers, hippos, monkeys, and dolphins. While there are many benefits to breastfeeding, one of its primary functions is to provide nutrition to a growing infant. But there is, of course, one more species missing from this list of milk providers: our own.ДЄccording to the CDC, more than three-quarters of American parents provided at least some breast milk to their infants in 2013. Less commonly, humans consume the milk of a menagerie of domesticated and semi-domesticated ungulates, such as alpaca, elk, llama, moose, musk ox, and yak.ДЄltogether, global dairy operations produce some 700 million tons of milk each year. The remaining one is sourced primarily from goats, buffaloes, sheep, and camels.

Nine out of every 10 glasses of raw milk produced in the world come from domestic cattle.

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